I really have mixed feelings about hiking from the Sterling Pointe trailhead at Folsom Lake. On the plus side, parking is free and the lot is usually nearly empty whenever I go. It’s also a fairly easy hike downhill to the lakeshore with great scenic views and even a bench or two along the way. Once at the bottom, you […]
This episode of California’s Gold, originally aired in August 2001, finds Huell discovering two very different pieces of history relating to California and China. I’ll admit when I read about the bonsai I was confused at first, since I’d always heard that it was Japanese in origin. However, it turns out that the related Chinese art of penjing is just […]
Colorful Tudor-era rugs on display as part of the Tapestries and Armor collection at the Legion of Honor Museum of Art, San Francisco — August 2023. b This tapestry is a ceremonial table covering that proclaimed the affluence, influence, and noble lineage of the Luttrell family. It was possibly commissioned by an independent and wealthy nmember of that family, the […]
Movie palaces and theater pipe organs were well before my time, but the Warnors Theater is a proud survivor of the golden age of silent movies and vaudeville. Built in an architectural style known as Spanish Colonial Revival, the theater has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. This episode of California’s Gold originally aired June […]
Any able seaman knows that a healthy ship needs continual care and maintenance to ensure long life. Constant exposure to the marine environment will wear away at the sturdiest vessel — even when she’s spending her retirement years docked in a safe harbor. So when I arrived at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park at the Hyde Stree Pier […]
Last night I started thinking about the photos I shot in San Francisco back in August 2017 — especially the ones in the area near North Beach and the Coit Tower. I knew I had shared at least some of them, but it’s been quite awhile, so I thought it would be nice to take a look back. As it […]
This episode originally aired in January 1999 — but Cargill is still very much a presence in the San Francisco Bay Area, involved in not only salt production but also playing a part in efforts to transform industrial ponds into tidal wetlands as part of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Many of us who have flown into San […]
I fell in love with the look of the classic roll-top desk sometime in my teenage years; ever since then I’ve often fantasized about owning my own, with its locking top and proliferation of tiny drawers and shelves. There was never enough money or enough room in my house, and I already had a perfectly good desk, so the fantasy […]
Earlier this month, in my continuing quest to photograph as many California Historical Landmarks as possible, I drove for nearly an hour from Eagle Lake to Susanville. I was searching for three sites in particular; the first was Peter Lassen’s grave, and the second was Roop’s Fort. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived at what is now Memorial Park, it […]